Allahabad High Court dismisses PIL challenging impeachment motion against Justice SK Yadav

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the impeachment motion moved against sitting judge Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav for his controversial remarks against Muslims. .A Division Bench of Justices Attau Rahman Masoodi and Subhash Vidyarthi said that the PIL was not maintainable. .Justice Yadav had made controversial remarks during a speech at an event organised by the legal cell of the right-wing organization Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).The judge had remarked that India will function as per the wishes of the majority community. He had also used the term "kathmullah", which is used as a slur against Muslims. Following the speech, there has been a growing demand that Justice Yadav's judicial work be taken away.Amid these calls, the High Court effected a roster change. Accordingly Justice Yadav will only be hearing first appeals - cases arising out of orders passed by district courts, and that too only those filed up to 2010. .Amid calls to impeach Justice SK Yadav, Allahabad High Court Chief Justice changes his roster.Member of Parliament (MP) Kapil Sibal and 54 other MPs later moved an impeachment motion against Justice Yadav.In a PIL against the move, Advocate Asok Pande sought a direction to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha to refrain from acting on the motion.Pande had argued that Yadav had made the comments in his capacity as a Hindu and that the term 'kathmullah' used by Justice Yadav in his speech does not qualify as hate speech. "As an advocate and judge, he may have been aware of how Kathamullapan is preventing Muslim girls from attending school and college or how Muslim women are being compelled to wear the Hijab and Burqa by Kathamullas. He could be expressing grievance against the Kathamullapan of certain Muslims who, by standing with Babar, obstructed the construction of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple for a long time and continue to align with the actions of Aurangzeb at the Shri Kashi Vishwanath temple and the temple at Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi," the plea said.